Tuesday, June 05, 2007

There is a story in the news this morning about children of divorce and use of Ritalin. According to a study done in Canada, children from broken marriages are twice as likely to be prescribed Ritalin as children whose parents did not divorce. Maybe I should have used that excuse when my kids were little. They are not being bad, they need to be on Ritalin. And all this time I thought it was me.

The researchers started the study in 1994. This study was of more than 4,700 children whose families were intact. The study followed the children and their families to see what happened over the years. They were especially interested in what drugs were prescribed.They apparently found that more that more than 6 percent of children from divorced families were prescribed Ritalin, while only 3 percent of children of families who stayed together needed Ritalin.

According to University of Alberta professor Lisa Strohschein, "It shows clearly that divorce is a risk factor for kids to be prescribed Ritalin. Yeah kids have a hard time when parents divorce. Maybe the parents should have been put on Ritalin. So many times parents stay together for the sake of the kids. I know this first hand.

So, since those of us who have had kids and been divorced now have to deal with the idea that the public looks at us as a problem. What I thought was just bad adjust ment to the divorce should have been diagnosed as a problem which required Ritalin?

All this time I just thought my kids did not pay attention to me on purpose. I just thought they were being average bratty kids. Should I have taken them to the doctor and had him put them on Ritalin? Nah, just a few times being grounded worked just as well. Next time I remember some of the trouble they all got into as kids, I'll just tell myself they should have been on Ritalin. Personally, I think my kids were just being kids. Then again, maybe I could use a new excuse for their behavior when they were kids. So what about now? Can I say if they have issues now, it is because they didn't get Ritalin as a kid? I think the jury is still out on this survey.